Last night I had the pleasure of driving on one of Sydney's newest Motorways, the just opened that day Westlink M7 Motorway.

Linking our three biggest motorways, the M7 starts at the M2 and travels to the M4 and then connects to the M5. I have to say it is one of the most awesome public road infrastructures I have ever driven in the world.

It's not necessarilly big, but the design of the infrastructure is totally amazing. The road surface itself totally silent. The landscaping incredible and the toll gantries lightings on the on and off ramps are literally *disco lit* with totally awesome coloured lights. You could forgive yourself for entering or exiting through a nightclub!

Quoting Bill142 (Reply 1):Is there an off ramp at Windsor Road in Baulkham Hills after its become the M5 heading into the city? I know there is one coming from the city towards Blacktown, but not the other way.

There is no city bound off ramp at Windsor Road but there is one at Norwest Blvd which is a direct link to Windsor Road just North of Baulkham Hills

BTW The M7 joins the M2 at Seven Hills, The M5 is at the Southern end of the M7

Quoting HKGKaiTak (Reply 4):When are we as citizens and voters going to learn that building more and more roads and motorways are not the answer?

What is the answer? We better roads, we're in a fuel crisis at the moment, these roads help save fuel even if they're spending more money on the toll than the saving. I live less than 5 minutes away from the notorious stretch of road near Coffs Harbour, its killed 13 people in the 13 years. Please tell me what is the answer. You can't say lower the speed limit because they've already done that.

Hope the road is good, I might go for a drive this week as I'm in SYD.

Quoting HKGKaiTak (Reply 4):Meanwhile, the Car(r) and Iemma Governments rubs its hands and puts decent public transport for Sydney's west into the too-hard basket.

Oh please. Here in North Sydney and on the upper north shore, transport has been totally forgotten. Western Sydneysiders don't realise how well connected they really are. You tried driving from here in Kirribilli to Manly lately? Practically impossible due to the Spit Bridge.

Quoting QFA380 (Reply 5):I live less than 5 minutes away from the notorious stretch of road near Coffs Harbour, its killed 13 people in the 13 years. Please tell me what is the answer. You can't say lower the speed limit because they've already done that.

Clearly improving the road is a good idea. I see they've just taken $90 million in funding from improving the Pacific Highway. I've driven on the Pacific Highway only once in my life (as a driver) and it was one of the worst streches of road I have driven on. It could well have been this dangerous section as I was near Coffs Harbour where I drove.

Clearly fixing the Pacific Highway should be more of a priority than it is.

Quoting HKGKaiTak (Reply 4):Anoter day, another useless motorway and another win for the top end of town.

Same here in Melbourne with the Scoresby Freeway - billions of dollars spent on a single road that positively affects only a small portion of the population. If the money spent on these roads was spent on better public transport, the benefits would be more far reaching and much more sustainable.

Quoting QFA380 (Reply 5):We better roads, we're in a fuel crisis at the moment, these roads help save fuel even if they're spending more money on the toll than the saving.

Ever heard of the concept of induced traffic? The thing is that new roads only support free-flowing traffic for a short period, then traffic from other roads moves onto the new road, then new traffic moves onto the old roads and the new roads. These are new trips that are induced because there are now more roads. In the end, you end up with the same type of congestion as you had in the first place, only now you have twice as much of it! Plus you've spent billions of dollars, and suffered increased fatalities for the privelidge.

Quoting HKGKaiTak (Reply 4):When are we as citizens and voters going to learn that building more and more roads and motorways are not the answer?

I'm tempted to say never! Howver Perth has shown that it is possible to turn from a car dependant government to a public-transport friendly government, without losing public support. Unfortunately, the road-lobby is too influential in most governments for such a change to be replicated.

Quoting QFA380 (Reply 5):What is the answer? We better roads, we're in a fuel crisis at the moment, these roads help save fuel even if they're spending more money on the toll than the saving.

Public transport.

Clearly building roads are not the answer, and how is encouraging more cars on the road saving fuel? How about reducing car dependency in the first place?

Why haven't they put a railway in the middle of the M7? That would be progress. Oh yes, I forgot, ther'es probably a clause in there somewhere that says no public transport on the M7 corridor ...

Quoting Qantasforever (Reply 6):Oh please. Here in North Sydney and on the upper north shore, transport has been totally forgotten.

Really, then please surrender the high frequency rail service of the North Shore Line. I live on the Northern Line and 4 trains an hour is a nice dream.

Quoting Qantasforever (Reply 6):You tried driving from here in Kirribilli to Manly lately? Practically impossible due to the Spit Bridge.

No, because I'd either be riding a bike or catching the ferry. Neither has causes me any stress, and is cheap, one is great for your body and the other gives you great views along the way. And probably quicker than driving your car.

Transport isn't just car transport ...

Quoting VH-KCT* (Reply 9):Howver Perth has shown that it is possible to turn from a car dependant government to a public-transport friendly government, without losing public support.

Yeah, it's amazing what Perth has achieved, certainly a model for all Australian cities to follow. If only it isn't so bloody hot over there ...

Up to 110km/h on freeways / motorways, which is waaaaaaay too slow given almost all of them are designed for cruising at 140km/h. (And there's parts of the Newcastle Freeway that's rumoured to be jetfighter landing strips in case of emergency ...)

And oh, we have plenty of speed cameras just in case you forgot to watch your speedometer, 120km/h in a 110 freeway? $200 please.

Couple hundred k's north in the Northern Territory, the Stuart Highway has no speed limit outside towns, similar to those German autobahns. No wonder so many car-makers come here for hot-weather high speed testing!

40km/h: school zones between 8AM-9:30AM and 2:30PM-4PM where the normal limit is 60 or 70, or permenant school zones where the normal limit is 50, or popular shopping strips during business hours, or popular night spots late at night and early in the morning50km/h: local street, main street in large shopping areas, main streets in country towns, suburban default limit in some states60km/h: local street with high traffic or local thoroughfare, school zones during the times as above where the normal limit is 80 or above, default suburban limit in some states70km/h: medium road in built up area or medium road with extensive driveway access80km/h: medium road with low to none driveway access90km/h: highway with driveway access or suburban freeways100km/h: freeways with no access, default country limit in most states110km/h: high quality freeways with no access, only with duel carriageways in Victoria

Which is all well and good, except that the states have made it clear that they do not follow these rules, and instead set limits individually. Meaning that the road I use to get home has dropped over the past 3 years from 100km/h to 60km/h while it remains an open country road.

Thank you for sharing the information. While Germany is a federal state where most powers are at the Länder, the traffic limits surprisingly are a federal law (unlike the US or Australia), so the general rules are:

City 50km/h, Outside cities: 100km/h, Autobahn : Recommended 130, no Speed limit (this means it is legal to drive as fast as you want as long as you are able to a) control your car safely b) are no danger to others. If you have an accident, you might use your insurance, however. But you are free to drive as fast as you want, if traffic allows it.)

Of course, if the road requires a speed limit, there is one. For example, almost 50% of the Autobahn network have a speed limit, other roads sometimes have speed limits of 70, and inside cities we have 30 km/h zones. But authorities may only set speed limits below the general rule of there is a need for it. As far as I know, some guy came the Autobahn in a speed-trap onto the Autobahn, but the court found the speed limit illegal because authorities didn't say explicit enough why they had set it .

This M7 looks nice, but it is also rather expensive, I would say! A toll of 5€ for 40 km is a lot!